Men ignore alcohol link to cancer

on 14 August 2008

Men are ignoring the message that drinking alcohol increases the risk of cancer, a charity has warned.

While the number of women saying they are aware of the link has gone up, the figure for men remains static.

The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) called for more to be done to get the message across about the dangers of too much drink.

It recommends that men stick to two alcoholic drinks a day while women only have one.

A poll for the charity found that the percentage of women in the UK knowing alcohol can cause cancer has gone from 35% to 42% in the past year.

However, the figure for men has stood still at 36%.

According to the WCRF, there is strong evidence that alcohol increases the risk of breast cancer, bowel cancer, kidney cancer and cancers of the mouth, pharynx, larynx and oesophagus.

Some research suggests around 5% of new cancer cases could be due to alcohol.Lisa Cooney, head of education at the WCRF, said: ‘It is good news that women are increasingly aware that drinking alcohol increases your risk of cancer.

‘But the fact that men are no more aware about alcohol and cancer than they were a year ago is really worrying.

‘The scientific evidence is stronger than ever before but it seems that the message is just not getting through.

‘This is a cause for concern because we want to be reaching everybody with this message so that people are in a position to make an informed choice about how much they drink.

‘We recommend that if people drink alcohol at all, they limit consumption to two drinks a day for a man and one for a woman.’